I met Sophia, the world’s first Android Citizen

Reflect

We received the call earlier in the week… Do you want to go with us to the Reflect Festival in Limassol? Um.. yes please. Thanks to our friends at the European University of Cyprus, I had a chance to see the latest in Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and meet Sophia, the world’s first Android Citizen. If you have read my bio I am a major fan of robots so after this photo op, I needed a moment to gather myself.

The ‘Big Idea’

Let me start by saying it was a lot for me to take in and synthesize. Wearing different hats throughout the 2-day event, I came home, ate some pad thai and immediately conked out on the sofa. I am personally interested in robotics and AI so there is that. But I also work as the Chief of Operations at HR Innovate, and as such am always looking for ways to improve business operations, to be faster, leaner and meaner, if you will. Also, making connections is important to me, and this is a room full of people with similar interests, potential clients and potential candidates so I tried to shake hands and connect with new people.

Now 24 hours removed, I look back on my notes and there is one word that sticks out to me — Preparation.

Preparation. The speakers hammered the point at every turn. Artificial Intelligence is not the future. It is now. During the Q&A with Sophia, an audience member asked if she imagined a world with human-robotic hybrids — Sophia argued that that already exists and asked if anyone in the room has a pacemaker. Another speaker declared that from a technical aspect we are ready for driver-less cars and that the roads will be safer with them. From the fields of Health to Education, AI and Machine Learning is tackling and resolving complex questions in just moments.

So what does this mean for the average person? We need to prepare.

For our community of readers, I believe the single most important aspect in this is the impact of AI on Jobs. If you plan to be in the job market for the next five to ten years or more, it’s time to start looking. I don’t like tech you might say. Yeah that doesn’t matter. It’s happening whether we like it or not. The only thing we can control in this equation is our own response.

1. Start small. Start where you are. Maybe read some articles about what is going on in the industry. If you own your own business, think about how you might be able to automate one task to make your business more efficient. By doing this we can make this transition easier.
2. Upskill. As a former teacher and teacher trainer, I am here to tell you that no matter what we do, education is key. Again, start small. At HR Innovate, we encourage our employees to take time at work to learn a new skill. I encourage you to do the same whether at work or at home. Courses online can be free or next to free. If you read my article on learning Python this year, you will see that I have only invested 10 euros, but the payoff has been enormous.
3. Have fun. This is an exciting time in humanity. On par with the Industrial Revolution we are entering uncharted territories at lightening fast speed.

When I was looking to buy my last car, I told my buddy I was going for a test drive. His advice? Drive it like you stole it. It’s how you know if it will perform the way you want it to under normal conditions. So take that AI out for a spin — and drive it like you stole it.